FORT WORTH — Gary Patterson spoke to reporters for 14 minutes Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
That’s about half as long as usual.
Oh, nothing was wrong. The TCU football coach was perfectly willing to entertain questions. There was talk of the bye week, injury updates, his quarterbacks (as always), K-State personnel, his defense, the wet grass at Iowa State hindering stunts, hints about a turnover sideline routine (!), even the fumble-ruled-illegal snap at Baylor, which he professed to have heard about for the first time when he was asked.
You know, a usual Tuesday.
Just efficient.
But when a 3-2 team coming off a bye is playing a 3-2 team coming off a bye, perhaps not inadvisable.
“Our football team, it’s really been a tale of two teams,” Patterson said, launching in to an evaluation of his Horned Frogs, who last played two weeks ago, when they were on the stinging end of a 49-24 decision at Iowa State that illuminated the rough edges at quarterback, pass rush, pass coverage and tackling, not to mention making an entrance. For the second time in three games, the Frogs trailed big. It was 15-0 against SMU in the first quarter and 21-3 by halftime against Iowa State (and then 28-3).
“We’ve either played really well, or we haven’t played very well,” Patterson said. “The key for us is to get to where we play well, or play good, but not bad.”
And do that for 60 minutes.
Uphill climbs are tough. They wear out teams and coaches. The Frogs don’t need to find themselves behind away from home, with a crowd getting into it, before the first TV timeout.
“We came in bringing our own energy this week, and that’s one thing we got to learn,” running back Darius Anderson said, “is to bring our own energy when we’re on the road.”
Healthy personnel will help.
“We’re going to get some people back. Kee’yon Stewart is going to be back. Ben Wilson is back. We’ll see how much he can play,” Patterson said. “Taye Barber is back. Mikel Barkley is back. We’ve added some numbers at positions, which was great for us. … Dylan Thomas was a big loss for us, but it helps getting Taye back and Mikel back because it gives us numbers.”
Maybe it will also give attitude, or something like it. Patterson expressed disappointment in a sag in the defense in the second half at Iowa State.
“Historically we’ve played well on the road,” he said. “We need to get to where we get back and get proud of what we do and put our backs against the wall and get ready to go.”
Could it take a jump start? Patterson is conservative when it comes to sideline demeanor. But he’s just about ready to try anything to juice his team. Anybody got ideas for a good turnover prop?
“We won’t probably start this game, but we need to have more fun, to be honest with you,” he said. “So we may start some of that stuff that everybody else is doing — in our own way.”
Right. Patterson’s TCU can go with the flow. He’s proven adaptable in the past.
But his way works, too. His teams have rebounded before. No doubt that was mentioned sometime in a week without a game.
“Honestly, I feel like we can go as far as we want,” said Anderson, second in the Big 12 among running backs in yards and touchdowns. “It’s just how bad we want it, how much we’re willing to put in, listen to our coaches and just keep pushing for it.”
The message got across.
Probably efficiently.
